Well, that’s my Bernina, off to be serviced. See you in a week, little fella.

A week.

Gulp.

Distractions, distractions, need distractions… How about a giveaway?

Did you know that it’s National Button Day today? Yup, turns out that there’s a day for everything, even buttons. Which gives me a great opportunity to share this book with you guys.

The Button Box is a lovely social history from Lynn Knight via the medium of buttons. No, really! It looks at different aspects of women’s lives down the decades, from domesticity to derring-do, war time uniforms to childhood teas. Each chapter is inspired by a button the author finds in her inherited button box. Gorgeous concept, isn’t it? And it’s a really gorgeous read.

Did you know:

The introduction of the zip democratised evening dresses. Why? You no longer needed the help of a servant to pull on your floor-length gown.

In the early 20th century, the number of bones you had in your corset became a status symbol. A lady might aspire to a 28-bone corset.

The linen button was the humblest button of all, worn by colliery and factory men and their wives. Why? It survived the mangle, unlike mother of pearl.

This book is also a social history of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, the author’s home town – and mine. Which means I can’t quite bear to give away my hardback copy of this book. But I’ll happily give away a paperback edition!

Leave a comment below by midnight GMT Saturday 18 November, and your name shall be thrown into the hat. As ever, this competition is open worldwide.

157 Responses to National Button Day Giveaway

Lisa Fredericksen Dkfreder@msn.com
Years ago there was a button shop in Chicago. It was such a wonderful place. I moved away but next time I visit I will have to look into whether it is still there. Buttons…the jewelry of sewing!!

I usually don’t comment, but I love buttons, and that book sounds absolutely too wonderful to pass up!
You are reminding me that I should get my machines serviced–some of them probably haven’t been serviced since before I was born…

I love buttons! As a child I remember loving playing with my Mum’s button box and seeing all the different shapes, colours and textures. Now as an adult who loves sewing they’re even more enthralling to me 🙂

I’d love The Button Box book for my grown-up daughter, please, whose lovely-but-busy new job in theatre wardobe means she won’t have time to get home to see us this Christmas. She’d love the book – and all the history – and I’d like a peep at the pages, too, before posting it back to London..

What a lovely idea for a book. Even if I don’t win it I’ll probably have to buy a copy! I love buttons and the stories behind them. I have my grandma’s button box and my mother’s and they’re both full of treasures.

I hope your machine has a speedy return! And I am very interested in this book, I will look it up! The only button specialty shop in Toronto has closed (there are others that sell buttons, of course), but the sight of all the boxes of neatly displayed buttons will be missed!

Buttons can make or break a garment!! I bought a beautiful red cashmere/wool full length red coat last week from a charity shop in Keswick. Will be wonderful to wear over Christmas! However some of the lovely black oval buttons were missing – I would need to change them all! Luckily I was travelling to London last Saturday so remembered to cut off a button to try to find some replacements! Nothing found on Walthamstow Market – but on a visit to Liberty I found exactly the right ones – first time buttons have cost more than the coat!!!

Learnt a lot just from your little snippets already. One of my favourite button shops is The Button Box in York. Not sure if it’s still there. I have a few button jars with old buttons in, gosh they bring back memories when you look through them.

Why oh why do I find it so hard to part with buttons that I know I will never use? The nicer they are…. the more likely I am to go out and buy MORE buttons for a garment rather than use my own ones!! Maybe this book will address this very issue lol

Button, button who’s got the button? We played a game when I was young where
we’d pass a button behind our backs, eyes closed music playing when it stopped
we would guess who had the button. Hey this was the 1960-70’s no computer games
Or computers
Growing up I had an elderly neighbor couple who had a button
collection mounted in shadow box’s on the walls of their finished
basement. Such beautiful buttons with stories to go with most of them.
Dotti & Bill were lovely people the whole neighborhood loved them
not just the kids.
What a beautiful book. Such a. Lovely gift

How absolutely wonderful. I love buttons and collect vintage ones, aspiring one day to use them in my sewing. I love buying old buttons where you can still see small pieces of the garment attached. It really brings to life what they were originally used for. This book sounds absolutely fab. Xx

What a gorgeous book! My great aunt had all sorts of sewing-related randomalia in her house, and I remember finding, and being very intrigued by, linen buttons in her stash. I hadn’t thought about mangles, but that makes perfect sense!

I loved to poke around looking for cards of vintage buttons in thrift shops
yet I find myself hesitating to actually USE them on a make! What if I find
that they would have been better used on the NEXT make? Haha- I guess
I could just cut them off (yikes!) & put them on the new make. Decisions,
decisions. Looks like an engrossing read. I enjoy
your pics; always beautifully styled.

Awesome giveaway. Like you, I have really fond memories of Chesterfield, as I did my Nurse Training there. It was the best 3 years of my life.
This book sounds amazing and I would love the opportunity to read it please. Thank you for the awesome chance.

Happy button day! This book has been on my Amazon wishlist for a while now, but I have yet to actually own it. I think every sewer probably has a tin or box FULL of buttons, just waiting to be matched with the perfect garment 😀

Buttons, how do I love them, let me count the ways …… sorry mr S. But I am glad to see my 5 year old granddaughter has inherited my love as she heads for my spice jar rack of different coloured buttons to do sorting whenever she visits.

I’m very attached the buttons I collected over time as most come from my grandmothers. I love the concept of this book! Thank you for the discovery! Even if I don’t win the giveaway, I’ll have gain a new name on my reading wishlist! xxx

Oh the stories my Mother had to tell when I picked out favourites from her button box! Tall tales & true from her legendary past -to paraphrase Walt Disney. These days my buttons are filed by colour & size, not just a haphazard pile, & I think a little story telling is lost with my desire to be a serious seamstress.

Brilliantly buttonlicious! I’m keen to know more about the history of these buttons and also the derby area as it’s close to me.. I never thought I’d ever be this interested in reading a book about buttons but wow I’d love to win!

The is a wonderful shop in NYC called Tender Buttons. It’s like a small museum. When I first started sewing there was a button shop near where I Iived that was its antithesis. The place was an absolute mess, but the owner could always find the perfect button. I would enjoy this book.

Thanks so much for suggesting this book. I just ordered 2 copies from Amazon, 1 for me and 1 for my mother- age 79. (No need to pick me- shipping to the US is $$ and I just bought it.) She is the one who taught me to sew. Her home town library is small and limited- and she isn’t much for ordering books online. So when I find books I know she will like, I send them to her. She is in to history lately and will probably want to ask my hubby the history teacher about the historical background of the book. Thanks again! Keep those book suggestions coming!

I am to have my grandmother’s button box which is currently with my mother. So much history there. I always remember to save the buttons from discarded clothing like my grandmother did. Never know when you can use those again on another garment.

Buttons! Last year I was given a little bag with vintage buttons by a colleagues mom. Some of them are new and some of them were already used. I especially love these and often think of stories they might have already seen….

Oh yes I remember those Peter Rabbit buttons – When I was about 3 years old I had a pale blue dressing gown with them on and a felt Peter Rabbit on the back as a cord carrier. Please add me into the draw for the book Karen.

I used to know an elderly lady who had been a tailoress. Sadly she’s no longer with us, however she gave me her old button tin (knowing that I sewed). I treasure it. How lovely that there’s a Button Day!

I loved emptying and sorting my Mum’s button tin as a child – and I still have some of my grandmother’s buttons (and belt buckles – probably from the 1930s when decorative belts were more common). Buttons are quite enthralling aren’t they? Except for my friends daughter who has Koumpounophobia !

How interesting! I’ve just finished packing up our house, ready for moving, and was really alarmed at how much space my button collection needed. I can’t throw a button away! I find it hard to hand over a garment to the charity shop if it has a nice button on it. But my big worry is, who will look after them when I die?

I love to make buttons to complement my stitching projects. Dorset, Yorkshire and Macclesfield buttons; ‘austerity’, felted and beaded all have fascinating stories behind them. I’m always on the lookout for more varieties to try and stories to tell – this book sounds ideal.

There is something very magical about an old biscuit or sweetie tin of buttons.. preferably your grannies button tin! They are a real paradox to me too as the ocd in me desperately wants to sort them and group them neatly in little rows of colour sequential bags However, there is also a massive part of me that just loves running my fingers through them, love the sound they make too.

The solution is to spend hours laying them out in the matching sets until i find the right size colour and number i need for whatever i’m making and them scooping them all back into their tin!

Interestingly there are several Facebook pages that specialize in Buttons … I’m only on one or two or i will end up with millions of beautiful Vintage buttons. I don’t really know enough about them all but lots of people do …. they probably all own this book or others like it that tell the history of the humble button 😀

I loooove buttons but am ashamed to say I didn’t know it was Button Day. I have a huge stash of buttons, every colour with their own drawer, and I often get them out and just admire them. They are there to be used, problem is I love them that much I never want to use them!
I would love to win your giveaway xx

National Button Day! I feel the urge to go to eBay and browse for vintage buttons now. And that’s after I spent far too much on buttons at the flea market on Saturday. They were so pretty, I couldn’t resist: https://www.instagram.com/p/BbXAKTDnDp6/?taken-by=awfulknitter_. But then I never can resist, which is why I have a big boxful! I think a well-stocked button tin is a fine thing to aspire to.

My favourite button shop is Duttons for Buttons. I love that you can send them your fabric or yarn, and they’ll send some matching buttons for you to choose from: such a useful service!

My Mum passed away earlier this year and I have her button tin; I look at some of those buttons and I can remember playing with them as a child and the clothes they once adorned . I also live near Chesterfield, love reading your blog.

Buttons are very cherished, as they are both small beauties easily transported but also so very practical when actually used! I have a collection of old and unusual as well as their more commonplace cousins. I carefully consider their use for every project. Can! Really look anymore, I just get overwhelmed. Sounds like a great book.

The most amazing buttons I’ve seen recently were in Sabah ( North Borneo) in September and you could buy Chinese woven and embroidered buttons as well as plastic and wooden ones. A spectacular display but I can’t recall when I last sewed a button onto anything. Didn’t stop me buying some though!

I loooooove buttons! I have been collecting them since I was a kid. I started with my grandmother’s button box and now have quite a collection. It’s one of the few things I have that I’m not embarrassed my kids will find when they have to go through my sewing toom. Lol!

Sounds like an interesting book! We’ve been collecting buttons for at least three generations in my family starting with my grandmother, though I suspect this is something which has been going on for a lot longer…! Something that really annoys me is if another member of the family decides to chuck/recycle a garment without harvesting the buttons first, I mean, you never know when they’ll come into their own do you?

I have buttons that belonged to my mum, auntie and grandmother. I love the litttle pearl buttons but I have some linen ones too. Now I know that they went through the mangle without breaking – my grandmother used a mangle and a wash tub in the scullery in the back yard. I’m a Black Country girl by birth.

National Button Day – that made me smile. I’ve just been away for a couple of days with good friends. They don’t really love buttons as much as I do, but yesterday they presented me with a surprise gift of a jar of mixed buttons they had bought from a charity shop. They know me well ! xx

Every time I have some unwanted clothing I don’t know if I should take the buttons (and zips) off and throw the garment away – which seems wasteful, or to leave them on and give the clothes to the charity shop. I would really like to keep the buttons!